Every office has one, or should.

A person who can make everyone around him a little better, just by example. And if that person also has a great sense of humor and a way of disarming most volatile situations, then that was Tyler Cowherd.

Cowherd, Chief Property Code Enforcement Inspector for Prince William County, Virginia, died July 16, 2011, as the result of crash while riding his motorcycle. He was 45.

Police say Cowherd and his wife Carolyn were riding one Harley Davidson along with a 50-year-old male friend from Manassas when a 63-year-old Maryland woman turned left in front of them. They weren’t able to stop in time and slammed into the passenger side of the woman’s Lexus.

Cowherd died. His wife and the driver of the other motorcycle sustained severe injuries, but survived. All three were wearing helmets. The woman driving the Lexus was not injured. In addition to his wife, he left behind a daughter, Tess.

Cowherd’s death left his co-workers at Prince William County stunned and saddened. To mourn his passing, the U.S. flag at the county government center was lowered to half-staff for several days following his burial.

“Just the other day, I was sending out an email, and I started typing his name,” said Pat Reilly, chief of PWC’s Neighborhood Services Division. “I just needed his advice on something.”

And Cowherd was only too happy to help. Anyone. Anytime. Reilly said he was especially good keeping emotional situations from boiling over.

“That’s where he excelled,” Reilly said. “In his soft voice, he showed empathy and compassion for both the complainant and the violator.”

Kenny Bedford, now Construction Inspector Supervisor (CQ) for plumbing in the county’s Department of Development Services, met Cowherd when the latter moved into his neighborhood some 20 years ago. After getting to know the quiet, polite plumbing contractor for a bit, he talked Cowherd into applying to Prince William County.

Bedford marveled at the way Cowherd was able to talk to people in the wrong and make it seem all right. So he knew Cowherd would do find when the latter moved over to code enforcement seven or eight years ago.

“With inspections, the people would come to you with their permit, and you would check it,” Bedford said. “But in code enforcement, you drop in unannounced.

“But he would sit down with them eye to eye and show them the code book and what they had to correct,” Bedford said. “He would give them suggestions of how to do it, and by the time they were done, the people were thanking him. That doesn’t happen much with inspections.”

That balanced approach, mixing strict rules and regulations with appropriate levels of humanity, helped ensure a win-win outcome for all, said Sean Farrell, Chief Property Code Enforcement Inspector for PWC’s Division of Neighborhood Services Prince William County.

“He was such a great guy.”

Because he was so shy, Cowherd sometimes took a while to let people in, Farrell said. But in the 17 or so years they worked together, he added, Cowherd became “one of my best buddies.”

Cowherd joined the PWC Building Development as a Construction Inspector in 1995 and was promoted to a Property Code Enforcement Inspector in 2001. In 2004, he was promoted again to Senior Property Code Enforcement Inspector and then to Chief Property Code Enforcement Inspector in 2006. Construction codes and plumbing codes were his specialties, Reilly and Farrell said.

Farrell said Cowherd coached and mentored everyone in their group with his common-sense approach. “We all owe a piece of our professional and personal development to Tyler as our role model,” he said.

One of those co-workers is Arika Davidson, an Intake Technician with the department.

“Tyler Cowherd was one of the most amazing men I have ever known,” she said. “He was kind, caring, understanding, always upbeat and always willing to help in any situation. If he did not know the answer, he would find a way to get it. This is a trait of his that I have used daily since his passing and will continue to use as I know he would want me to.”

Cowherd constantly was finding answers, mostly to improve himself. Farrell and Reilly said he was dogged in his quest for updated certifications that would help him help others even more.

“He was a code geek,” Farrell said.

Only one certificate eluded him, Farrell said of Cowherd: the Virginia Association of Zoning Officials Enforcement Certificate. Time and time again, Farrell said, Cowherd couldn’t conquer the legal aspect of the certificate. The Association finally acknowledged him with a lifetime achievement award for his persistence, Farrell said.

And if he wanted to forget about certificates and codes for a while, Farrell said Cowherd would head out on his beloved Harley. He rode with him a few times in the Rolling Thunder Memorial Day rides, Farrell said, but Cowherd was the hard-core rider, saddling up every weekend, often participating in charity events. If it was nice out, Cowherd would ride into work on his Harley, Farrell said.

Cowherd also was good for a little fun in the office. “He used to get M&M's out of my candy dispenser and throw one at me before he put the rest of the handful in his mouth,” Davidson said. “It showed his playful side even when he was stressed. It always made me smile. … He knew when I needed to smile.”

And he loved his junk food, Reilly said. Especially the fries from the Five Guys hamburger chain. “He would come in the office with a bag, and you could smell them right away,” she said. “He wouldn’t say a word. But if you said something, he would offer you some fries. Of course, we never took one.”

Reilly said they miss those memories. They miss the cubicle filled with photos of his wife, daughter and other family members and friends. But now and then, she said, they do get a little “It’s a Wonderful Life”-type reminder of Cowherd’s goodness.

“We have one of those bells on our counter for customers,” she said. “When he would leave the office in the afternoon, he would push the button on his in-out board and then ring the bell so we would know he was leaving for the day.

“Now and then, someone will ring the bell on their way out. Everybody smiles.”